1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for determining the position of a wireless communication antenna, and more particularly to a method for determining the position of an antenna used in local area wireless communication.
2. Description of the Related Art
A mobile communication system is a representative example of a wireless communication system. The mobile communication system is capable of establishing a communication channel irrespective of the general locations of users. The mobile communication system began mainly a voice communication system, but has developed into a system capable of performing data communication due to the rapid development of communication technology and the demand of users. Current mobile communication systems in practical use are capable of transmitting a great quantity of data at high speed.
Most of todays data communication is accomplished through wired links in offices and homes. Owing to the rapid progress of wireless communication technology, home networks relying on wireless communication technology have currently come into the spotlight. Some of the main components in such home networks using wireless communication technology include terminals requiring little mobility, for example, access points of a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) or notebook computers. However, in addition to such terminals, it is desirable that terminals requiring mobility, for example, wireless devices such as web pads, should be capable of establishing data communication links at random locations in the home networks. As the mobility of the terminals in the home networks increases, improvement of quality of the wireless communication is being raised as a critical issue.
In establishing the home networks, wireless communication environments depend on the types of residences of the users. For example, a typical form of a residence in the United States is a detached house, but in Korea the typical form is an apartment. Therefore, wireless communication equipment should be set-up in the home in compliance with such wireless communication environments. On of the more important components of wireless communication equipment is an antenna. The wireless communication environments may be changed depending on where the antenna is installed.
If the location of the antenna is not properly established according to the structure of a house or apartment, a non-uniform state may occur, and the wireless communication within the house or apartment is smoothly achieved in only a particular region, but is not achieved in other regions. The state of the communication is randomly varied depending on the location of the antenna. In addition, users require methods by which the wireless communication environments are promptly adjustable. Interference can occur if the home networks are installed in every home. The interference raises problems of undesired hacking and non-smooth communication. The users need to easily determine the prime location of the antenna for smooth communication.
Studies of outdoor wireless communication environments are conducted to establish prime locations of base stations or repeaters with respect to the mobile telephones. However, studies of indoor wireless communication environments have only been conducted for determining an environment of a channel model, and not for determining optimal wireless communication environments including effects on antennas and determining prime locations for the antennas. Methods for determining the location of indoor antennas include a ray-tracing method and an image method. These methods measure the strength of a radio wave in an actual field after performing a simulation by a computer when an indoor environment is established. However, these methods require the performance of a number of measurements in order to obtain a precise solution although they provide a significantly precise simulation. These simulations and measurements must be repeated whenever an indoor structure is varied.